Take A Chance
by Jagfan 724
Summary: [Complete] LJ He takes a chance, she takes a leap. Where will they land? Oneshot.


TITLE: Take A Chance

AUTHOR: Jagfan724

RATING: G

DISCLAIMER: I own very little. That which I do is not mentioned in this story.

AUTHORS NOTE: I normally write for JAG, but have recently gotten into Harry Potter fics, especially the Lily and James pairing. Let me know what you think, please.

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Lily Evans sat in the corner, in a chair that seemed to be placed there especially for her. It was out of the way, nearly hidden from the rest of the Gryffindor common room. Just how she liked it. Out of everyone's way, in a place where she could hide from the troubles and stress from the rest of the world. She was tired of fighting to live in a world that seemed to be so desperately against her.

She was a small, slender, young redhead who thrived on books. Books provided a place where she could go and not be judged, not be stepped on, made fun of, or tormented. Lily was tired of being treated like that. People made fun of her for her bright red hair, her size, her brains, and for not having any friends. For you see, Lily had no friends. They had all abandoned or betrayed her in one way or another and now she was left to fend for herself in this wizarding world that she was only just discovering.

On her first day, her parents had dropped her off at the station, hugged her goodbye, and left her to fend for herself. They knew not where Platform 9 and ¾ was and neither did she. For 15 minutes, she wandered the platforms, with her trolley, desperately trying to find where she was supposed to be. Many people kept bumping into the little redhead, just not seeing her. Finally, she sat down on a hard wooden bench between platforms 9 and 10, put her head on her knees and was ready to release her building tears when someone tapped her shoulder.

"Are you lost? Can I help you?" a voice asked her.

An eleven year-old Lily looked up to find a boy about her age, with dark, thick black hair and the most amazing hazel eyes. He had a look of concern on his face and behind him stood two people, which seemed to be his parents.

Tearfully, almost afraid to speak, she nodded.

He gave her a small smile and knelt down in front of her so they were nearly eye-to-eye.

"I can't find where I'm supposed to go," she said quietly.

"Are you trying to find Platform 9 and ¾?" he asked, knowing that she was. The hood of her cloak was sticking out of her trunk and that was just one of the few clues that gave it away that she was indeed a witch heading for Hogwarts.

She nodded again.

"Come on, I'll show you," he said, standing up and reaching out for her hand.

She hesitantly took it and he pulled her gently to her feet. Still keeping her small hand grasped in his, he took her trolley with his other hand and led her to just in front of the brick wall.

His parents, proud of the gentleman their son was being, stood back to give the two some space. The girl was bound to be scared and overwhelmed already, why intrude upon, and add to that?

The boy looked at the girl who was staring back at him with her emerald green eyes wide open.

"It's right through here, we'll go through it at a bit of a run, if you don't mind. You ready?" Without waiting for an answer, he gripped her hand tighter and pulled her through the barrier between the Muggle world and the Wizard world.

Lily had briefly closed her eyes, sure that the two of them were going to crash right into the brick wall and send her things flying all over the platforms but to her surprise that crash never came. When they came to a halt, she slowly opened her eyes and gasped in surprise. Dozens of students and their parents were milling about and steam was coming from the Hogwarts train. It was a magical and overwhelming sight to behold. But it was here, waiting for her to explore.

"Thank you," she murmured to the boy.

"I'm James," he introduced, holding out his hand for her to shake.

"Lily." She stuck out her hand in return and received a firm shake.

"Nice to meet you, Lily."

And then suddenly he disappeared. They were separated briefly by a group of passing students, obviously older and ready to board the train. When they had passed, Lily looked around but could not find the boy who had so nicely helped her. She sighed. It was time to board the train.

James was frustrated when a group of seventh years pushed him aside, separating him and the small redhead. Lily was her name and she was absolutely gorgeous. Her bright red hair had been what captured his attention first but then the sight of her tear-filled, glistening green eyes had nearly torn his heart in two. He had raced away from his parents, in hopes that he could find out what had caused this beautiful young girl to cry.

She was muggle-born, he had deduced. Lost and all alone, no parents or family or friends around to help her find her way and James was determined to rid those beautiful eyes of their tears. He had helped her through the barrier and just when he was about to invite her to sit with him on the train, they had been separated.

His parents came up behind him. Harold, his father, laid his hand on his son's shoulder. "Where did she go?"

"She just disappeared. We got pushed aside. I guess I'll just have to find her on the train. Oh, well. Thanks for getting my stuff. Bye, Mum. Bye, Dad." James hugged both his parents and kissed them goodbye on the cheek. Both Harold and Shannon, his mother, had told him marvelous things about Hogwarts and the Sorting Ceremony and the teachers there. He was very excited to finally be attending the wizardry school.

They waved goodbye to their only child and watched as he met up with his best friend, Sirius Black, and continued to watch as both boarded the train, their excitement obvious to the casual observer.

Now it was five years later and the middle of her 6th year and Lily would have been the lost and forgotten Gryffindor if it had not been for James Potter. He had insisted upon asking her out many times for the past two years, insisting that her beauty and brains had captured his heart but convinced that it was all a joke, she repeatedly refused his advances and offers. He had grown a lot from the young boy who had helped her find her way that first day in the wizarding world. Girls now threw themselves at the very attractive, cocky, somewhat arrogant, Gryffindor Quidditch Captain and he just lapped up the attention.

He and his cohorts in crime, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, attracted much attention because of their status as the famous Marauders, but secretly James was still that kind, polite, gentlemanly boy who had helped a young crying Lily find her way into the world of magic and Hogwarts.

He truly had fallen in love with her and despite many, many offers that dared not be repeated in front of young audiences, he was without, and had always been without, a girlfriend. He refused their flirtatious attentions, no matter how big his ego got. Kisses had been freely given to many of them, but no further would he go. He wanted to prove to his favorite little redhead that he was truly devoted to her and only her.

And so, Lily sat in this little chair in the corner of the full and busy Gryffindor common room, lost in thoughts and memories and a book she had found in a back corner of the library. It had been gathering dust for many years now but Lily was curious and bored and in need of a new book and so, she had checked it out. _The Life and History of the Centaurs Who Lived During the 14th Century_ by Gynecia Zelmane. Despite its topic, it was actually quite interesting to read, especially if one wanted to lose oneself in a book and hide from the ever-famous James Potter.

James watched from afar, admiring the girl who had captured his heart yet evaded his presence and his arms for many years. This would be the year, he promised himself. He would show her how much he cared and how much he had matured. He would prove himself worthy of her affections or….hmm…or what? That was a good question, what if she wouldn't return his love? What if she would never return his love?

And so, our story begins.

James watched as Lily glanced at her watch, silently groaned, and put her book away. Reaching down beside her, she stuck her hand in her bookbag and pulled out her Transfiguration book and a blank piece of parchment. He ignored the sounds of Remus and Sirius as they battled over a game of chess, with Peter watching them both eagerly. They knew when to leave him alone. There were certain times when Prongs needed "Lily time" and every evening when she did her homework was one of those times.

James continued to watch as Lily flipped through the pages, searching for the needed information. When she was nervous, she bit her lip. When she was frustrated, she would chew on the end of her quill. When she drummed her fingers, that meant she was getting impatient. It was quite cute to observe all her little nuances and habits. Right now, at that moment, she was both chewing on the quill and drumming her fingers. That was not a good sign.

He knew that Charms was her best subject. She was quite good in all of her classes, but some of them often demanded a little more attention, work, and skill than she was able to give. Potions was quite frustrating for her. Having to cut just the right amount, stir the proper amount of time in the right direction, it was a preciseness that often tried her patience. Especially when she was partnered with a Slytherin. The Gryffindor's all knew her and knew just exactly how she worked, silently yet hard. They let her do her thing, but worked with her. The Slytherins seemed to bug her to no end, teasing her and pushing her. Giving her the wrong ingredients and then blaming her when the potion went wrong. It was quite frustrating for James to just sit back and let them do that to her. Some of them had backed off, but not Lucius Malfoy nor his friends. It was amazing what a little threatening could do to even the biggest of Slytherins, but Malfoy seemed to take special delight in bothering Lily.

Transfiguration was the other subject that demanded more of Lily. She was still at the top of the class, just below James, but things came slower to her. Now they were supposed to be writing a 2 foot long essay on turning a rabbit into a pillow, something that had taken James about 5 seconds to do, it took Lily the whole class time.

Sensing her patience lessening and her frustration growing, James arose from his spot near the hearth and went to sit by her.

"Need any help?" he quietly asked.

"Not if you're going to ask me out again," she said, not even having to look up to know it was him.

Her heart jumped a little at his voice. If only he knew how much of a crush she had on him. Too bad she believed his attention was all just a joke. No one could ever love her like that, she believed.

"I won't," he assured her. He scooted his chair closer to hers and took the book from her lap to look at. "Now what are you having trouble with?"

Lily was quite surprised at his willingness to help her out and even more so at that fact that he had recognized that she was struggling. Maybe he wasn't so bad.

"Professor McGonagall said to talk about-" And they were off, both getting lost in a discussion of the process and questions that Professor McGonagall was having them answer.

Lily had the concept down, there were just little details that she wasn't understanding and James was more than happy to help her learn them. They spent about an hour, with her writing her essay and James explaining what she needed answered. James watched as she quickly finished up her essay, filling the last inch. She was so cute when she was focused, her nose scrunched up when she was thinking of a word, then a little smile would appear when it finally came to her. She was so adorable.

Finally, she dotted the paper, adding the period at the end of her sentence and threw her quill down.

"Done!" she said, pleased that it hadn't taken her as long as she had first imagined.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" he teased.

"No, thanks for your help."

"Want to return the favor?"

"You promised you weren't going to ask me out again, Potter," she said, her eyes narrowing.

He held up his hands, almost as if he were surrendering. "And I haven't yet and I don't intend to. I was just going to ask if you would help me with Charms."

"Oh." Her face blushed, her cheeks turning an interesting shade of red. There she went, making a fool out of herself again. Assuming one thing when it was really another. "Sure."

"Just a minute, let me go get my stuff," he said, happily jumping up and running up the stairs to his dorm. She waited patiently for him to return, stuffing her finished homework back in her bag and then sitting back in her chair.

He returned, only a minute or two later, books and parchment in one hand and a silvery cloak in the other. The common room only had a few students left in it by now, many having gone up to bed and so they were nearly alone in their corner of the room.

"What's that?" she curiously asked.

"An invisibility cloak. I thought…in case you were hungry later….that we might…that we could go down to the kitchens…if you wanted." He seemed to be stuttering a bit, not wanting her to assume that he was trying to ask her out or get her alone. He didn't want to go make out with her in some deserted classroom. Well, he did, but in truth, he had just thought that she might like a snack after working so long on homework.

She sat back and watched him thoughtfully. Maybe he wasn't such a git after all. He didn't seem to be wanting to take advantage of her or pressure her in any way.

"K, now I had a question about-"

Remus watched from across the room as Lily explained something to Prongs. She liked to use her hands when she talked, very animated. James was watching her, for once listening very intently instead of just watching her. He smiled. Maybe the two of them would work out, after all.

After a few minutes, Remus arose from his place on the couch and headed for the stairs. He paused at the bottom of them, intending to bid James and Lily a good night, but they were so involved that he just smiled again and headed up to bed.

It was almost midnight when James and Lily finished up. James slowly gathered up his things, just wanting to spend a little more time with her.

"Po-I mean, James," she started.

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering….never mind, I'm sure you want to go to bed. I'll just say goodnight and leave you." She got up, intent on heading for the stairs. It was late and she was sure he was tired.

"Lily, what? What were you wondering?"

She stopped just short of the girls' staircase. "It's nothing, forget it. Goodnight, James."

James. She had called him James. Not Potter or some other name. _James_. He let her get all the way up the stairs to just in front of her dorm door before he called up after her, taking a chance.

"Lily, would you still like to go get a snack from the kitchens?" Here goes nothing, he thought.

She turned to face him, her smile seeming to reach her eyes. "I'd love to. Just let me put this stuff away and I'll be back down," she answered, gesturing to her school things.

"I'll be waiting," he promised.

When she returned, he was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, invisibility cloak in hand.

"Ready?"

"Yup, let's go."

Once just outside the portrait of the Fat Lady, he covered them both in the cloak and led her down the halls, down some flights of stairs, and after ticking the pear, down into the kitchen.

"I've never done this before," she murmured, standing close to him because of the cloak.

They were standing just inside the entrance of the kitchen, still invisible from the house elves. He moved in just a little closer to take the cloak off and inhaled her scent. It smelled faintly like vanilla and something else. Hmm, what was it? There, there it was. Vanilla and strawberries. It was intoxicating and entrancing.

"Done what?" He took the cloak and folded it up, tucking it under his arm. It was too valuable to lose or misplace. "Come here or broken rules?"

"I've broken rules before," she protested, gently slapping him on the arm.

He let out a laugh. "You? Miss perfect Lily Evans break a rule? I should think not."

"I have too."

Just then about four house elves appeared in front of them, startling Lily, who had never seen one before. She jumped, moving right against James. He restrained from laughing at her shock but bravely slipped an arm around her waist, holding her against him.

Scared as she was of the house elves, she was even more frightened to have James' arm around her. Why was he acting like this? Was this even more of a joke?

"Can we help yous?" one elf asked eagerly.

"It's Mr. Potter!" another one said excitedly.

"Mr. Potter!" Suddenly more elves appeared.

Lily was overwhelmed. There were suddenly about a dozen or so little creatures standing around her and James, clamoring for attention.

"Would Mr. Potter like some cake?"

"We have some pumpkin juice."

Words were shouted, all begging to go off and fetch food for James. James held up a hand to silence them. He glanced down at Lily. She had her eyes closed. He smiled, this had to be the first time she had ever seen a house elf. Of course, she would be nervous.

"Lily, what would you like to eat?" he asked.

"We have lots of food, miss," one especially eager house elf jumped in.

"Can I…can I just have some juice?" she timidly asked.

"Some pumpkin juice for both of us then. And some of those delicious cookies too," James added.

As the elves scurried off to retrieve the items, James led Lily to a small table nearby. He sat down across from her, setting the cloak on the table between them.

"We can sit here if you like, or we can take this stuff back upstairs," he offered.

"Here's fine. Thanks." Her green eyes finally met his hazel ones and once again, James was nearly lost in their depths.

The elves brought over two cups of pumpkin juice and a plate full of cookies before scurrying off. James and Lily sat at the table, munching away at the treats the house elves had provided.

"Why are you acting like this?" she asked.

"Acting like what?" James knew full well what she meant but he wanted to hear her describe it. To describe how she saw his change in behavior.

"You're being awfully kind to me, helping me with my homework and all. You're…you're no longer the arrogant git from fourth year," she told him, blushing.

"I was awfully cocky, wasn't I?" he asked, grinning at her.

"Just a little," she teased.

James almost gasped aloud. Was she flirting with him?

"Anyway, I was just wondering what made you change," finished Lily.

"You," he mumbled, suddenly shy. Why was it that when he was around her, his confidence and cockiness seemed to vanish. He turned into a shy, bumbling idiot.

"What?" Lily leaned forward to hear him better.

Embarrassed and not wanting to look her in the eye, James suddenly stood. "It was you. You made me want to change." He began to pace. "Ever since that day I met you on the train platform, I've liked you. But then you disappeared and I didn't see you again until a few months later. And I didn't really get a chance to talk to you again, you always disappeared after classes and meals and I could never find you and I just wanted to talk to you but then in fourth year, that whole incident with Snape down by the lake…and just the way you stood up for him and to me. I wanted to hex him so bad for calling you a mu-…a…you-know-what, you didn't deserve that at all. And ever since then…well, I've always really liked you. Sirius and Remus say it's love and I guess it is, but I'll never know cause you always say no when I ask you out but I do-"

All of the sudden he was cut off by a finger pressed against his lips. "Shhh, you're rambling, James," Lily instructed. She was standing before him, still wearing her school uniform and her cloak loosely tied around her and it was all James could do to keep from kissing her. She was just so damn irresistible.

She removed her finger from his lips and he took a deep breath. He ran his hand through his messy black hair, ruffling it up even more before he could stop himself. He was nervous, having just confessed his feelings for the love of his life and she wasn't saying anything. She was still there, that was a good sign. He desperately hoped that he hadn't frightened her away.

"Can we go for a walk?" she abruptly asked.

"Yeah, sure." He grabbed his cloak and with a nod and a thank-you to the elves, he led her back up to the more traveled hallways of the castle. Covered by the cloak, the two of them roamed the halls silently, managing to avoid Filch and any teachers who happened to be out and about.

Just when they had turned down one corridor, James took a chance and reached for Lily's hand. He held his breath for a moment, waiting to see what she would do. She let him take her hand in his and gently squeezed his, letting him know the action was okay.

Without knowing it, they were wandering back towards the Gryffindor tower. They had been walking around for almost an hour. Slowly, but surely, familiar paintings began to appear and before they realized it, they were just one corridor away from the entrance to their tower.

James was still nervous as heck. Lily's head was filled with thoughts of worry and self-doubt. She seemed to be standing on the edge, with two choices. Step back to hide among the shadows once again, to slip away from the public eye and from James or take a chance and step off. Step off into what though? Into a relationship, into love…into James?

They paused at the entrance to the common room. James was nearly in despair. She was going to say no. She was going to say that he needed to leave her alone. That she didn't want this. He could almost hear the words coming from her mouth. When she did speak, the words weren't what he was expecting to hear.

"Let's go inside."

He gave the Fat Lady the password and they slipped inside. Thinking she was heading to her bed, he was surprised when she tugged him over to the couch in front of the fireplace. He sat down and she joined him, sitting down right next to him, putting her head on his shoulder as they watched the flames of the fire dance before them.

Several minutes passed. This whole night was seeming like a dream for James. Any second now, he was going to wake up to find Sirius bouncing on his bed, screaming at him joyfully to wake up and get out of bed.

"This isn't a joke?"

"No."

"Promise?"

"I promise. I would never do that to you."

A pause. A long and lengthy pause.

She lifted her head from his shoulder and turned to face him, her eyes taking in the messiness of his dark hair, the softness of his chin, the randomness of his freckles, the worried look in his eyes.

All of the sudden, she got a bashful and shy look on her face and she buried her face against his chest and shoulder, murmuring something.

"What?" he asked, hoping that he had heard what he had thought he heard.

She spoke the words again, this time a little clearer and a little louder and his heart nearly split open.

"I like you too."

_The end._

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__Let me know what you think, please._


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